Method of shading surfaces



Jan. 14, 1941. I MADDQCK 4 2,228,280

METHOD OF SHADING SURFACES Filed April 26, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l 01/50, o/9% WM ATTORNEYS.

Jan. 14, 1941. "r. 1 MADDOCK METHOD OF SHADING SURFACES Filed April 26, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. BY

Mir N16,

ATTORNEY 6 Patented Jan. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT' OFFICE 2,228,280 METHOD or SHADING SURFACES} of Ohio Application April 26, 1938, Serial No. 204,343

7 Claims.

The present invention is concerned with a very simple, economical and rapid method of shading surfaces, together with the means employed in carrying out such method. The method has a variety of uses, one of which consists of shadin drawings for reproduction in publications and such use will be chosen for specific description herein. However, the invention contemplates the shading of other surfaces than drawings, and for other purposes than reproduction.

My method comprises causing isolated areas of regularly arranged transferable material to adhere to one face of a tough, flexible transparent sheet; then, after the adhering material is sufficiently dry so that it will not automatically offset on contact, placing the sheet with the transfer material in immediate contact withthe surface to be shaded; then by applying pressure to the exposed surface of the sheet in regions over those to be shaded, to transfer some of the transferable material from the under-face of the sheet to such surface.

I have found that a thin sheet of Cellophane (preferably a laminated sheet with the grain in different directions to prevent curling), has characteristics which make it desirable as the sheet carrying the transferable material, because it is transparent, flexible and tough, and thus allows the underlying design to be readily observed, and the pressure to be readily applied by an artists pencil on top of the sheet without danger of tearing the sheet. 0n the other hand, ordinary transfer material will not adhere to the smooth surface of a Cellophane sheet in a sum ciently permanent manner to be available in practice. Hence, it has been necessary to devise a peculiar transferable material which will adhere to a Cellophane sheet and will not smudge the underlying drawing when the transferable material is brought into contact therewith'and still may be transferred to the design by pressure on top of the sheet After considerable experimenting, I have discovered a composition which may be handled like printer's ink, for printing on Cellophane, which will not spread afterbeing printed, and will become comparatively dry, and thus effectively retain its position on the .sheet and enable the sheet to be placed directly over'and in contact with the surface to be shaded, without smudging the same, but may be readily transferred to the surfaceby the pressure of the artist's pencil on top of the cellophane sheet.

It has been heretofore proposed to transfer material to a design by employing an over-lying transparent sheet of paper carrying on its underside moist transferable dots and separating the same from the design'by a layer of magnesia powder, and then by pressure on the top of the paper sheet impressing the dots through the powder onto the design, the powder being essential to prevent the moist dots from inadvertently adhering to the design. Disadvantages of such method for any purpose consist in the difficulty of maintaining the transferable areas on the sheet in moist condition; the difficulty of establishing the proper layer of powder, and the difficulty of properly effecting the desired pressure, through such layer. Such old method is not at all suitable for shading surfaces for photographic reproduction, because the white magnesia adhering to the black material on the drawing gives a gray effect, rendering it unsuitable for photographing.

By my method, the transferable areas on the sheet are comparatively dry, so that there is no necessity for the use of a layer of powder and the sheet of Cellophane has the desirable characteristic of great toughness and smoothness, so that there is no danger of it being torn. However, it is essential that the transferable material have suilicient adherence to the Cellophane sheet so that it will not be inadvertently displaced, either in manufacture, shipping or use.

The regularly arranged areas of transferable material may comprise small dots uniformly spaced on the Cellophane sheet; or I may employ parallel lines of transferable material. Such dots or lines may be differently spaced, or have different extent on different sheets, according to thecharacter of work desired.

Another feature of my invention is that I make two or more superimposed impressions either from different transparent sheets, or from the same sheet differently placed-over the surface to be shaded. I can thus produce various efl'ects, as for instance, plaids'representative of fabrics.

In the drawings, I illustrate my invention as utilized in the production of shading on an outline drawing, either for exhibition or reproduction purposes. Fig. 1 is a plan of my Cellophane sheet secured to a suitable protection sheet, a portion of the Cellophane sheet being turned over for clearness of illustration; Fig. 2is 9. diagram illustrating on ,a very enlarged scale a cross-section of the transfer sheet and protection sheet; Fig. 3 is an illustration of a figure to be shaded; Fig. 4 illustrates the transparent-sheet placed over the outlined drawing of Fig. 3, with the act of supplying the heavier shading; Fig. 6

illustrates at its upper portions the shading produced by the operation of Figs. 4 and 5, with the Cellophane sheet somewhat difierently placed over the lower portion of the object, and the artists pencil shown in the act of applying a subsequent shading to produce a plaid effect on the garment; Fig. 7 illustrates the shaded drawing produced by the successive actions of the transfer of material from the Cellophane sheet, K

the face of the figure showing dots of two intensities and the garment portion showing effects resulting from subsequent impressions from differently positioned transfer sheets.

The remaining figures are diagrams which show the transfer sheet placed over a previously impressed surface, and illustrating various patterns which can be reproduced. Thus, Fig. 8 shows how a region of the surface having a normal amount of dots impressed on the sheet can receive dots closer together by shifting the transfer sheet, while preserving its parallelism; Figs. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate various plaids or figures which may be made by skewing the transfer sheet with reference to surfaces already impressed with dots. Figs. 12, 13 and 14 illustrate effects which may be produced by making successive impressions from a line transfer sheet; Fig. 15 illustrates the effect of an impression from a line transfer sheet on a surface previously impressed by a dotted sheet.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, A indicate: a sheet of Cellophane on one face of which are printed a set of regularly spaced, transferable dots a; B indicates a backing sheet of ordinary paper, having preferably a non-glossy surface, which serves as a protection for the transferable material a. The two sheets A and B are suitably secured together by staples C.

In use, the surface to be shaded, designated D, usually carrying an outline drawing, as illustrated in Fig. 3, is placed between the sheets A and B, and is preferably temporarily secured therein by gurnmed tape secured to the margin of the transfer sheet and to the adjacent exposed position of the drawing sheet, beyond such margin. This is indicated by the strip E in'-Fig. 4.

After the surface or figure to be shaded is put into position, the artist simply manipulates his pencil back and forth across the exposed face of the Cellophane sheet, the point of the pencil pressing down on it with sumcient pressure to effect the transfer. With a little practice this may be done very rapidly.

The Figs. 4, and 6 indicate by heavy lines F the approximate strokes of the artists pencil on top of the Cellophane placed 'over the figure to be shaded. However, this is only a conventional illustration, as the pencil is ordinarily manipulated by free hand back and forth; moreover, the smooth surface of the Cellophane prevents any substantial adherence of the pencil material, although the region shaded is readily visible to the operator by reason of the impressed dots showing through the Cellophane rather more blackly than they appear before the pressure is applied. A stylus would operate equally as well as a pencil, but ordinarily, the pencil is more readily available, and has been found to produce perfectly satisfactory results. In the manipulaphane sheet A of Fig. 1 is to give a stippled effect' on the drawing, as shown at G, Figs. 5 and 6. By making a second impression from a transfer sheet A, maintained in parallelism, but slightly shifted from that of the preceding impression, I produce the heavier shading indicated at H, Figs. 6 and 8.

If the transfer sheet for the second impression is laid in a somewhat skewed position over the shaded figure, as in Fig. 6, I may produce a fabric eflect varied according to the relation of the two impressions. Thus, in Fig. 7 we have on the coat of the figure one form of fabric effect J, where the sheet A bears the relation to the stippled drawing illustrated in Fig. 9, and we have on the necktie of the figure a diflerent fabric effect L, corresponding to the relative positioning indicated in Fig. 11, or could obtain the appearance K of Fig. 10. v

Fig. 12 illustrates a Cellophane sheet A-l formed on its under-surface with parallel lines of transfer material. A single impression gives the same appearance to the surface DI, and a double parallel impression gives the appearance indicated at M, Fig. 12. However, if the second impression is made by the lined sheet somewhat skewed, as shown in Fig. 13, we have the peculiar appearance indicated at N. With the transfer sheet for the second impression at right angles to that of the first impression, the cross-hatched appearance indicated at O, in Fig. 14 may be produced. An-impression made by ruled transfer sheet A-l, and a second impression by the dotted transfer sheet A, may give the appearance shown at P, in Fig. 14. There is no limit' to the effects that can be produced by making successive impressions with differently positioned transfer sheets, or with sheets having different transfer areas.

The transfer material employed on ordinary carbon sheets, used in typewriting, etc., will not adhere to a Cellophane sheet. The inks which have been developed for printing on Cellophane, on the other hand, will not offset. It is important to employ a material which will adhere to the Cellophane sumciently to retain its position and not be inadvertently offset, but which may be readily offset by the pressure of the artists pencil on the back of the sheet.

I have found that I accomplish excellent results by printing thedots or lines with an ink of the following composition, namely:

These materials are ground together to make an ink similar in application to printers ink. This ink is placed in the fountain of a press used for printing on Cellophane, and the imprint is made on the Cellophane by an engraved roller carrying the figure to be imprinted, as, for instance, dots or parallel lines. After the imprint the ink is allowed todry, the Cellophane sheet carrying such dried ink .is then secured face down to the protection sheet and the product is ready for use. I have found that such products may be stored in packages, shipped and maintained indefinitely, ready for use whenever desired.

I have described the process as carried out in producing shading on a previously made artists sketch for exhibition or reproduction in publications. The method, however, may be employed for-producing shaded effects on plain paper; for instance, in making borders around illustrations or advertisements.

If the surface shaded. is intended for reproduction, is may be used in any of the recognized methods of printing. For illustration, it may be photographed onto a metal plate and the plate thereafter engraved much more simply than where the engraver is required to originate the stippling or lining effect, Likewise, the shaded drawing may be reproduced by photolithography in the usual manner. In the latter case, I may, if desired, use my transfer sheet directly on the lithographic stone or plate, for applying additional shading to an image thereon, since the linseed oil employed in the transferable composition gives it a water-resisting characteristic suitable for lithographic use. Probably the largest use of my method, however, is reproducing shaded artists drawings for newspaper and magazine work.

Reference is made to my copending application, No. 242,011, filed November 23rd, 1938, for claims on the transfer sheet itself, as preferably used in the method of this application, and to my copending application, No. 242,047, filed November 23rd, 1938, for claims on the transfer material which may be applied to and carried by the cellulose film to produce such transfer sheet.

Iclaim:

1. The method of producing shaded surfaces, comprising forming on a flexible transparent sheet comparatively dry exposed isolated areas of transferable material, placing such sheet over a surface to be shaded with the transferable 'material in direct contact therewith, and applying pressure to the exposed surface of said sheet.

2. The method of shading surfaces, comprising placing over the surface a transparent sheet carrying on its under-face comparatively dry exposed black transferable material in regions regularly separated, with the transferable maand successively applying pressure to different regions of the exposed surface of the sheet.

3. The method of shading surfaces, comprising placing over and in immediate contact with such surface a sheet of Cellophane carrying on its under-side comparatively dry exposed transferable material arranged in regularly disposed separated regions, and applying pressure successively to the exposed surface of the sheet.

4. The method of shading surfaces, comprising placing in direct contact with such surface a sheet of Cellophane having comparatively dry exposed transferable dots on its under-face of comparatively dry material adhering to the Cellophane and applying pressure to the exposed surface of the sheet.

5. The method of shading surfaces, comprising placing over and in immediate contact with the surface to be, shaded a sheet of Cellophane having on its under-face comparatively dry exposed spaced parallel lines of transferable material and applying pressure to the exposed surface.

6. The method of shading surfaces, comprising placing over and in immediatecontact with such surfaces a sheet of Cellophane carrying on its underside a comparatively dry exposed transferable material arranged in a definite pattern, applying pressure to the exposed face of the sheet of Cellophane to transfer the material to said surface and thereafter making a second impression from a sheet of Cellophane carryinga different pattern of comparatively dry transferable material by pressure applied to the exposed face of such sheet of Cellophane.

7. The method of shading surfaces, comprising placing over and in immediate contact with such surfaces a sheet of Cellophane carrying on its underside comparatively dry exposed transferable material arranged in a definite pattern, applying pressure to the exposed face of the sheet of Cellophane to transfer material to said surface, and thereafter laying the same or a similarly treated sheet of Cellophane over the already shaded surface with the comparatively dry transferable material on the Cellophane in direct contact with such shading but shifted out of registration with the transferred pattern and applying pressure to the exposed side of the Cellophane sheet,

THEODORE L. MADDOCK. 

